HARDWICK -The Hazen Union boys basketball team took care of business against Spaulding and U-32 last week to clinch the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Division III playoffs as they look to get back to the title game for an unprecedented fifth consecutive year.
Junior Lincoln Hill drained four threes on his way to a 20-point night to lead the Wildcats to a 68-37 dismantling of Spaulding at home on Senior Night last Monday. Fellow junior Jamison Lamarre added 16 points and six assists as Hazen started the game on a 16-0 run and never looked back. Seniors Morgan Michaud (14 points, 10 rebounds), Sully Laflam (9 points) and Ethan Gann were honored before the game with their family members for their outstanding high school careers on the hardwood. Freshman Noah Foster (five points) connected from long range and Kobe Smith chipped in with two points and four assists in the win. Noah Cepeda led Spaulding with 8 points.
“It never gets old watching these seniors celebrate their careers here at Hazen with generations of their families, with now a lot of them having already come through our program. The quality of our kids and their families are so high in this community and it’s no surprise that I get to coach team after team that are all-in with no ego. We are so lucky to have the amount of past players that the younger kids can look up to as examples. They set a standard that was all about the team and the program without any sense of entitlement. It really makes you proud to be part of it,” said head coach Aaron Hill.
Lincoln Hill continued to torch the net from deep on Thursday, connecting on five more three-pointers to finish with a career-high 30 points to lead the Wildcats to a 75-57 road win over U-32. Michaud did the dirty work inside with 14 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. Lamarre added 13 points and eight assists. Laflam chipped in with 11 points as Hazen went into the break with a 39-26 advantage.
The loss evened the Raiders record at 10-10. They will host Mount Abe this week as the eighth seed in the upcoming Division II playoffs.
The win helped Hazen move up and clinch the second seed in a loaded Division III bracket. Randolph and Hazen will carry the same 16-4 record into the state tournament but the Ghosts earned the top seed with a season series sweep of the Wildcats in the regular season. Woodstock (17-3), Winooski (15-4) and Vergennes (14-6) round out the top five seeds. Two-time defending state champion Thetford Academy enters the tournament at 12-8 as the sixth seed.
“Our division is so deep this year again and it is going to be a real challenge for everyone from the quarterfinals on. I feel great about where we are as a team right now. We’re playing with confidence and balance and are able to give teams different looks defensively. Getting Jeter Demers back healthy and the growth of Noah gives us the best depth we’ve had as a team all season. We’ve continued to get better as a team as the season progressed and so have some other teams at the top of our division. We’re looking forward to the postseason and the challenge,” said Hill.
Hazen welcomes Stowe to town in the first round of the Division III playoffs Wednesday night. If they advance, they will host the winner of Peoples Academy/Oxbow in the quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon. All home games can be streamed live on Hardwick Community Television (hctv.us).
